Mad Men

[Mac1958]

I've started watching Mad Men on Netflix.

I thought the first season was fabulous and hilarious. But now, about halfway into the third season, it's feeling more and more like a freakin' soap opera.

Does the series get back to business, or does it keep putting me to sleep like a chick movie?
.

 

[Divine Wind]

Chick movie.

Try Breaking Bad, Hell on Wheels and The Walking Dead.

 

[Disir]

Hell on Wheels is the shizzle. It kills any attempts at turning it into a romance.

 

[Iceweasel]

I made it about half way through the series but got tired of the same shit. Breaking Bad was the best series ever in my mind, great writing, acting, type casting, etc. Justified is my second favorite. Grace and Franky (sp?) is pretty much a chick comedy but funny as hell.

 

[Mac1958]

Excellent, thanks.

I've done Breaking Bad, loved it.

I started on House of Cards, and immediately remembered why I dislike politicians so much. Why would I watch that?

Maybe Hell on Wheels next.
.

 

[Divine Wind]

I made it about half way through the series but got tired of the same shit. Breaking Bad was the best series ever in my mind, great writing, acting, type casting, etc. Justified is my second favorite. Grace and Franky (sp?) is pretty much a chick comedy but funny as hell.

Agreed on Justified. I haven't seen the second season of Grace and Frankie yet. Same for season 5 of Orange is the New Black.

 

[Divine Wind]

Excellent, thanks.

I've done Breaking Bad, loved it.

I started on House of Cards, and immediately remembered why I dislike politicians so much. Why would I watch that?

Maybe Hell on Wheels next.
.

Justified, as previously mentioned, is great!

So is Bloodline, but I haven't seen the second season.

Longmire is great too. (4 seasons)

Sons of Anarchy is supposed to be very good. I've only seen a few episodes when it was on television, but have it on my list of series to watch. (7 seasons)

 

[Disir]

I'm liking Longmire more than I thought I would.

 

[Divine Wind]

I'm liking Longmire more than I thought I would.

It's a good show. Some humor along with the seriousness of their job.

Last year I watched all 7 seasons of "The West Wing". I'd seen the first 2-3 seasons completely, but the rest were spotty due to a lack of tech to record them while working. It was fun to catch up on all of them.

 

[NYcarbineer]

I lost interest after one season also.

I'm liking Longmire more than I thought I would.

Did they continue that somewhere? I loved that show.

 

[Disir]

They have four seasons on Netflix. I think there is a new season starting but I don't know anything about it. I almost dropped it after that second season first episode but I completed 'em all.

 

[MikeK]

Chick movie.

Try Breaking Bad, Hell on Wheels and The Walking Dead.

Breaking Bad was excellent but it fell apart and flopped in the latter and the final episodes -- especially the last one, which was an incredibly stupid ending to such a great series. It seemed the writers were burned out and reaching for any simplistically fantastic nonsense that could pass for an expedient ending. They could have done much better if only they'd tried.

 

[westwall]

I made it about half way through the series but got tired of the same shit. Breaking Bad was the best series ever in my mind, great writing, acting, type casting, etc. Justified is my second favorite. Grace and Franky (sp?) is pretty much a chick comedy but funny as hell.

Breaking Bad is definately awesome, but my vote for best series is the second season of Wiseguy with Ken Wahl as the lead and Kevin Spacey and Joan Severance as the bad guys. Incredibly well written.

 

[MikeK]

I've started watching Mad Men on Netflix.

I thought the first season was fabulous and hilarious. But now, about halfway into the third season, it's feeling more and more like a freakin' soap opera.

[...]

I'm inclined to agree with that assessment.

It's not uncommon for a tv series with a great first season to lose momentum in latter seasons. This disappointing effect is known as loss of situational continuity. It is the result of writers taking a long break between brainstorming sessions and/or because of a change in the writing staff.

The reason for the phenomenal success of The Sopranos series was the producer's insistence that scripting and editing continue with minimal interruption between seasons, the result being each successive season was better than the preceding one. There was no interruption in situational continuity and the essence of individual characters remained constant.

Another example of the loss of continuity effect is seen in another great series, The Wire." And an outstanding example of the effect of uninterrupted continuity is seen in what I consider the greatest tv series of all time, the BBC's, Downton Abbey.

I liked Mad Men in spite of the change in scripting tempo. The first season focused on the nuts & bolts of Madison Avenue during the rise of the tv "ad biz," which was relatively interesting and informative. But focus shifted in successive seasons to the personal lives of the principal characters, the result of which was the soap opera effect.

When my late wife received her Ph.D. (Psychology) in the sixties she was recruited by a now-prominent Madison Avenue ad agency. She lasted five months and quit because the competitive pressure was overwhelming. She would really have enjoyed the Mad Men series.

 

[Mindful]

One of the best scenes:

 

[Divine Wind]

Spent a couple days last week binge watching Netflix's "Stranger Days". Good stuff.